Quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) managed as a cover crop in herbicide-resistant silage corn

  1. NANCY GIFT1,*,
  2. RUSSELL R. HAHN2,
  3. JANE MT PLEASANT3

Article first published online: 30 JUL 2008

DOI: 10.1111/j.1445-6664.2008.00291.x

Issue

Weed Biology and Management

Weed Biology and Management

Volume 8, Issue 3, pages 154–160, September 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

GIFT, N., HAHN, R. R. and MT PLEASANT, J. (2008), Quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) managed as a cover crop in herbicide-resistant silage corn. Weed Biology and Management, 8: 154–160. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-6664.2008.00291.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Environmental Studies, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Departments of

  2. 2

    Crop and Soil Sciences and

  3. 3

    Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

* *Nancy Gift, Department of Environmental Studies, Chatham University, Woodland Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA. Email: ngift@chatham.edu

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 30 JUL 2008
  2. Article first published online: 30 JUL 2008
  3. Received 2 February 2007; accepted 11 June 2007

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Keywords:

  • cover crop;
  • ground cover;
  • herbicide-tolerant crop;
  • quackgrass;
  • silage corn

The groundcover levels after corn (Zea mays L.) silage harvest are rarely adequate to prevent soil erosion, but most corn-growers do not plant cover crops due to time and cost limitations. Herbicide-resistant corn hybrids provide opportunities to control weeds and to utilize cover crops in previously unexplored combinations. Field studies were conducted in 1999 and 2000 at Dryden and Valatie, New York, USA, to determine the potential for managing existing quackgrass (Elytrigia repens[L.] Nevski) as a cover crop in herbicide-resistant silage corn. Three isolines of the corn hybrid, DKC493, were treated with glyphosate, glufosinate, primisulfuron, nicosulfuron or sethoxydim. Averaged over all site–years, the corn silage yields with glufosinate were similar to those with glyphosate. Glufosinate also resulted in a quackgrass ground cover greater than the 30% threshold for preventing soil erosion. Quackgrass could be managed as a perennial cover crop in silage corn–perennial forage dairy rotations in north-eastern USA.

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